Roast goose with apple sauce

A goose weighing about 4-5kg should be enough for 5-6 people

If they'll fit in your oven I would suggest getting a couple of birds for more than 8-10 people. The secret of rendering down the fat is to begin the cooking process with the breasts facing down in the pan so that the skin fries in the hot fat released from under the skin. The mistake people make is to just bung the goose in the oven for hours on end hoping for the best. That's how you end up with a dry fatty bird.

Judy Goodman recommends removing and seasoning the legs, smearing a bit of goose fat over them, covering them in foil and roasting them ahead of the carcass. Then roast the bird on its back for an hour; turn it over on to the breast to finish the crisping process for another 45 minutes or so. Then put it breast up again for the final 15-20 minutes.

I've tried lots of different ways of roasting a goose over the years and found that unlike a duck, the legs need more time to cook. By roasting the bird this way, the breasts get cooked to medium - while the legs are slow-cooked and crispy, almost like confit legs. This process will also render enough fat from the goose to get your roast spuds going.

1 goose
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

for the stuffing

2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
1tbsp sage, chopped
60g butter
100g fresh white breadcrumbs
1tbsp chopped parsley
The livers from the goose, or the equivalent of chicken livers

For the apple sauce

1kg cooking apples, peeled, cored and roughly chopped
2tbsp caster sugar
50g butter

To make the stuffing, gently cook the onions and sage in the butter for 2-3 minutes without colouring, then remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs. Meanwhile season and fry the goose livers in a hot frying pan for a couple of minutes on each side, remove from the heat and leave to cool a little. Chop the livers into rough smallish pieces and mix into the breadcrumbs with the parsley and season to taste.

The legs can be cooked hours before you're eating and reheated nearer the time. Pre-heat the oven to 160C/gas mark 3. Remove the legs from the goose by pulling them away from the bone and cutting at the joint. Remove any fat and skin from underneath the goose on the backbone and put it in a tight-fitting oven tray either on top of or to the side of the legs. The fat will render down. Season the legs and cook for 21/2 hours, basting every so often. Drain off the fat and use for roasting the potatoes. Put the legs aside ready to heat up 15 minutes before you serve the goose.

For the goose itself turn the oven up to 200C/gas mark 6. Spoon the stuffing into the cavity of the bird and season the breast, spoon over a little of the fat that the legs have been cooking in and put the bird breast down in a roasting tray. Cook for 45 minutes, draining any excess fat from the tray during cooking (add this to the fat from the legs for your potatoes) then turn the bird back up on to its back and cook for a further 20 minutes.

In a separate tray, roast the potatoes, topping up with goose fat as needed. You can give them a final blast when you've taken the goose out of the oven and it's resting for 15 minutes. Put the legs back in the oven to heat up now, too. Then remove the breasts from the bone with a sharp knife and slice thinly across the breasts with the skin down on the board. The leg meat can just be carved off the bone, or cut into chunks.

Meanwhile (or even the day before), put the apples into a pan with the sugar and butter, cover with lid and cook gently, stirring every so often for 15-20 minutes until the apples start to disintegrate. You can keep the sauce chunky and natural, or blend it in a food processor. Check the sweetness and add more sugar if necessary, although it shouldn't be too sweet to accompany goose.